The present invention relates in general to slipcovers for seating furniture having one or more arms, and in particular a new and useful method and apparatus for covering such furniture which includes a strategic gathering and holding of corners of the semi-fitted fabric cover so that the cover conforms well to the furniture.
Although unfitted covers are cheap and can be used for more types and sizes of furniture, it is difficult to make them look neat and hold their position on the furniture. Typically, an unstructured or unfitted furniture cover, that is, a large, flat, fabric rectangle, is draped over a sofa and hand-tucked around the seating perimeter. The fabric, now formed to the cushion area, runs over the arms and front and up and over the back of the sofa, hanging loosely in folds or bunches. Next, the cover makers suggest that excess fabric spilling onto the floor be tucked under the sofa. Then an elasticized skirt is placed around the base of the sofa as a means of containing the untidy outer folds with a finishing touch. For a more regular, tailored look, the makers recommend the use of screw pins to hold particular pleats and folds in place. Screw pins are also suggested as a means of holding the skirt to the cover and also for anchoring the whole assembly to the sofa upholstery itself. As a final measure, the makers suggest strategically hand-tacking the cover and skirt with needle and thread.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,825,909 discloses the use of elastic cords connected to various portions of a furniture slip-cover, for structuring the cover closely around furniture such as an armchair or sofa. U.S. Pat. No. 1,857,418 discloses initially unstitched seams in a partially structured furniture cover which, to achieve a final fit, are stitched after the cover is fitted onto the furniture.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,884,993 discloses the use of bands and fasteners for fitting a slip cover to a chair or sofa. U.S. Pat. No. 5,320,407 discloses the use of tubes which are stitched in the portions of a slipcover which will eventually cover inner or outer corner areas of the furniture, and pull cords in the stitched tubes. After covering the sofa or chair, the cords are pulled to gather the cover at the corner areas, thus producing shirring effect.
None of these references suggest any method or apparatus which is capable of converting an unstructured furniture cover, such as a simple rectangular sheet of fabric, into a cover which conforms closely to the furniture.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,553,362 invented by one of the co-inventors of the present application, discloses an apparatus and method for fitting an unstructured fabric furniture cover to a piece of furniture which includes an elongated triangular wrapping member. Excess fabric at the corner areas of the piece of furniture is wrapped around the triangular member and fitted to the corner area of the furniture. A clip or band is used to hold the wrapped excess fabric against the corner area for fitting the unstructured fabric cover to the piece of furniture.
The use of unfitted, semi-fitted and fully fitted fabric furniture covers on sofas, love seats and chairs has grown markedly over the past years. Various slipcovers and slipcover accessory products have been developed by the assignee of the present application to address some of the problems associated with this type of furniture cover. See, for example, the present co-inventors"" U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,802,681; 5,733,002; 5,722,723; 5,664,832; 5,632,068 and 5,547,249.
Among the problems associated with these types of slipcovers are loose, messy fit; disheveled appearance; and erratic pleating at the arms.
One proposed solution is to heavily elasticize most of the seams of a semi-fitted slipcover as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,664,831. This, however, leaves a stretched bag-like appearance over the entire piece of furniture, rather than a smooth tailored look that could previously be achieved only by using a custom fit and therefor expensive slipcover which is unique for each piece of furniture.
Elastic skirts are also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,676,422 for holding an unfitted cover to a reclining chair. Here again, it is difficult to achieve a smooth finished look, and impossible to maintain the look after the furniture has been used.
Another approach for gathering in the excess fabric in fitted but not custom covers is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,549,355.
The following patents disclose various concepts for covering furniture having arms: U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,667,211; 2,671,499; 2,800,169; 2,820,510; 2,921,625; and 3,116,953.
The present invention is intended to provide an improved slipcover arrangement and slipcover method which has additional control over the placement and maintenance of a semi-fitted cover on seating furniture with one or more arms, including sofas, love seats and armchairs, and on such furniture which has both rectangular cushions and T-shaped cushions. T-shaped cushions are commonly referred to as xe2x80x9cT-cushionsxe2x80x9d and are particularly difficult to fit with semi-fitted slipcovers. The invention can also be used on furniture with no arms. In all cases the invention accumulated the excess fabric in such a way that the end result is a well contoured cover that fully follows the shape and structure of the furniture rather than approximating its shape in a loose and mis-fit manner as in most of the prior art.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a semi-fitted slipcover arrangement and method for covering seating furniture such as armchairs, love seats and sofas having at least one arm or no arms, and whether the furniture has one or more T-cushions or non-T-cushions or no cushions at all.
Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a slipcover arrangement for covering a piece of furniture having a seat and a back, the arrangement comprising: a semi-fitted fabric slipcover body for covering the furniture, the slipcover body having a back portion for covering the back if the furniture, a seat portion forming an L-shape with the back portion for covering the seat of the furniture, a side portion with a hem edge for extending horizontally near a lower end of a side of the furniture when the furniture is covered by the slipcover body and, for furniture with at least one arm, an arm portion for covering the arm; at least part of the arm portion, or a part near a front corner of the seat portion when there is no arm, being twisted in either direction into an elongated wrap portion for lying flat against the arm, front or side of the furniture; wrap retaining means connected to the slipcover body for extending over the wrap portion and for pressing the wrap portion against the furniture; an elastic band connected to the slipcover body and extending along the side portion substantially parallel to the hem edge for holding the side portion against the side of the furniture; and a cover skirt connected to the slipcover body and extending over the wrap retaining means to decoratively cover the elastic wrap retaining means.
An other object of the invention is to provide a method for covering a piece of furniture having a seat, a back and at least one arm, or no arms, the method comprising the steps of: providing a fabric slipcover body for covering the furniture, the slipcover body having a side portion with a hem edge for extending horizontally near a lower end of a side of the furniture when the furniture is covered by the slipcover body and an arm portion for covering the arm when the furniture has an arm; twisting at least part of the arm portion or part of the slipcover near a front corner of the cover if there is no arm, into an elongated wrap portion for lying flat against the furniture; retaining the wrap portion against the furniture at a retaining area below the arm of the furniture; elastically holding the slipcover body side portion against the side of the furniture; and covering the retaining area with a cover skirt connected to the slipcover body to decoratively cover the retaining area.
According to another feature of the invention, the cover skirt has opposite ends. Either end may be fixed, e.g. by sewing, to the slipcover body, with the opposite end being detachably connected to the slipcover body, e.g. by hook-and-loop fastening tapes. Alternatively, both ends of the cover skirt may be detachably connected to the slipcover body, e.g. by hook-and-loop fastening tapes.
According to a still further feature of the invention for use with T-cushion furniture, the retaining means holds the wrap portion against the side of the arm. For furniture with cushions that are not T-cushions, the retaining means holds the wrap portion against the front of the furniture arm.
The invention is further enhanced by inserting a flat, tapered wrap member, e.g. a triangular member, under loose, excess parts of the arm portion after the slipcover body has been draped over the furniture, and twisting the excess material to form a neat, taught wrap portion. A wrap or wrapping member similar to that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,553,362 is ideal for this purpose.
According to another feature of the invention, stabilizing members or devices such as the grips having V-shaped cross-sections as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,547,249, or the grips of U.S. Pat. No. 5,722,723 can be used over a seat covering portion of the slipcover and in the side and back seat crevices to securely hold the seat covering portion of the slipcover on the seat of the furniture.
The wrap technique can also be used at the rear corners of the furniture. Alternatively, elastic seams are used at the front and/or rear corners of the furniture rather than the wraps and the resulting shirred accumulation of fabric is covered by the cover skirt at the front corners for a finished look.
The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and specific objects attained by its uses, reference is made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which preferred embodiments of the invention are illustrated.